Greetings from Roissy

Another pictureless quickie because we're at a hotel out by the airport whose wi-fi is refusing to let me upload photos. We had a really delightful unexpected extra day in Paris, starting at the Palais Garnier where in addition to the gorgeous ceilings, chandeliers, and sculpture we got to see the auditorium being lit for an upcoming performance. From there we went to the Roman arena and the Pantheon, where we visited the graves of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Marie Curie, Louis Braille, and other celebrated French figures. We had lunch at a fantastic creperie in that neighborhood before visiting the Eiffel Tower (crowds too large to go up, though we were lucky in that the Metro was free all day in an effort to encourage people not to drive because pollution has been so bad in the city for the past couple of days). There was still heightened security there and at Napoleon's tomb at the Hotel des Invalides, but the weather was beautiful despite the haze! We had dinner while watching the France-England rugby match with a noisy crowd at Cafe de Luna in Montmartre before getting a cab to the hotel!